Black & Decker FSMH1621-GB Review

Generally,  users are enthusiastic about this mop. It does a good job at cleaning floors – although there are single function mops that beat it on performance. The handheld unit has many uses and was mostly agreed to be pretty effective. As an all-rounder it has to be up there as a major contender.

Click here to see what 150+ Amazon.co.uk buyers had to say about their purchase…

In mopping mode it was good at basic cleaning and removing dirty marks from floors. It was less efficient at actually picking up spills and tended to move heavy dirt around a bit, so that it was necessary to have a wipe around the edges where it had accumulated. Users liked the steam burst mode, which released 50% extra steam to tackle stubborn stains. Generally it was good on ‘lightly dirty’ floors, but not so great on really muddy floors. Most people agreed that it leaves the floors reasonably dry after use and liked the fact that it’s quiet when being used. It didn’t leave streaks on the floor.

There are three variable settings, which are adjustable via the handle, depending on the surface you are cleaning; stone/marble, wood/vinyl and tiles. The head can swivel 180 degrees and is flat, rather than triangular, but users reported that it coped well with corner, nooks and crannies. The cord is 5m long, which isn’t particularly generous and some users found that they had to keep re-plugging it in, which was an inconvenience. You don’t have to hold a steam trigger down in mop mode and it was felt to be easy to push and manoeuvre.

The mop comes with a carpet glider attachment which freshens rugs and carpets. It doesn’t claim to deep clean, but users report that it definitely spruces them up and gets rid of superficial marks.

The mop is designed to stay up unsupported, although buyers report that it does have a tendency to keel over. It has a wall mounting facility for easier storage. The well made cleaning pads wash well. The mop heats up in 15 seconds and the use period is then about 15- 20 minutes.

The handheld unit is reasonably light and easy to use, although you do have to hold the steam trigger down. It comes with various attachments including; a flexible hose, 3 scrubbing brushes, squeegee for cleaning glass and a variable nozzle. The attachments fit on easily and store in the supplied mesh bag. The unit cleaned windows and glass reasonably well, without streaks. It wasn’t very good at getting rid of limescale stains on shower screens though. It was more efficient at removing grease from kitchen tiles, oven doors and hobs. It doesn’t do the whole job on heavy grease, but it goes quite a way. Users found that it generally did a good job at cleaning grout.

The unit can be used to freshen upholstery, de-crease and de-odourise clothes and produces good results on these tasks.

Customers generally said that they felt the mop was robust and well made. A minority had problems with parts breaking off or the mop totally failing to produce steam and had to seek a replacement under the guarantee.

In summary, this model has a lot of fans. It may not be the mop for you if you regularly have heavily soiled or muddy floors (a dedicated steam mop rather than a handheld combi would probably do a better job). As a combi though, the overall performance was felt to be sound – a good all-rounder.

See the video below for a demo of the product (the reviewer is American but the product is pretty much identical to the UK one). If you want to read more user reviews just click the blue banner below the video.